Speed Dawn, VOLUME THREE
1001 large rafts and three surfboards sailed from the coast of the Royale Blue Mountains (or, as Morrow liked to call them, the Browny Brown Plateaus). Each of the one thousand rafts hoarded four men each. Two thousand Kingsmen had volunteered to stay behind as bandits at the Royale Blue and gaurd their home. The one-thousand-and-first raft hoarded King, while the surfboards were surfed by Morrow and the Vegas. Their destination? The coast of the Cleed Isle, where the Morrow Gang had planned to rendezvous with Bootstrap Bill. "QUICK! QUICK! QUICK! WE HAVE ONLY EIGHT HOURS TO GET TO CLEED ISLE," screamed Morrow at the men formerly known as the Kingsmen, and now known as the brotherhood of the Morrow Gang. King yelled at his captain, "IT'S GONNA TAKE US TWENTY HOURS TO GET THERE, MORROW! MAYBE MORE!" "We can make it." "WHAT?" "WE CAN MAKE IT." Kamui and Kaguya surfed closer to Morrow. Kamui, semi-shouting, spoke, "So..." Morrow semi-shouted back, "So." Kamui spoke, "Things worked out pretty well for us, huh?" Kaguya spoke, "Hey, don't jinx it." Morrow turned to Kaguya and asked, "Damn, girl, you believe in jinxes?" Kaguya asked, "You don't?" "Nope." "Oh, well. Kamui is right, though. Things did work out pretty well for us." "Indeed. It had already been decided by a higher power." Kaguya smiled, "I don't think that God graces pirates." "Actually, by higher power, I meant me." Kaguya chuckled, "You son of a bitch." Kamui asked Morrow, "Oh, yeah? So you knew the outcome to the showdown at the Browny Brown?" Morrow replied, "Oh, yeah! King had already lost before the showdown even began. This outcome was inevitable." "Inevitable? As in, it was fated?" "I do not believe in fate. But I believe in luck." Kamui had another question, "When did you poison King? I couldn't see you do it." Morrow replied to the question with a question, "Were you watching closely?" "Yeah," replied Kamui, "but I guess you're just too damn fast!" "That's why you couldn't see it." "'Coz you're too fast? Yeah, I know." "Nope, it's because you were watching too closely. The trick was not to look closely. The trick was to look as far as twenty years into the past." A stunned Kamui screamed, "YOU POISONED HIM TWENTY YEARS AGO?!" "HE POISONED WHO TWENTY YEARS AGO?" bellowed King, who heard Kamui's scream. Morrow replied to King, "LARRY, THE GUY WHO TRIED TO RAPE ME WHEN I WAS CRIPPLED." "OH. NASTY." Once King had turned his attention away, Kamui asked again, "You poisoned him twenty years ago?!" "Twenty two, to be precise," replied Morrow. Kaguya was amazed. She spoke, "So you planned this showdown's outcome over two decades in advance? I'm impressed." Morrow smiled and turned to Kaguya, "Look. I never intended to work for your daddy forever. The only reason I worked for him was because I had a brother to raise. I had always planned that after that brat's education was all wrapped up, I'd leave your father and explore the world for myself. To live freely in this world, in today's times, you need powerful friends to back you up. I just looked out for strong men and made sure I got some leverage over them, years in advance." "And how many men did you get some leverage over?" "Including King and your dad? Just shy of a dozen. I didn't have much time before I was imprisoned. By the time I broke out, only King was still alive." "You had leverage over my father?" "I like to think so." The One Hour Seven hours later, the rafts had arrived at the Cleed Isle. A high-spirited Morrow bellowed, "BROTHERS OF MORROW! WE HAVE REACHED OUR DESTINATION!" King was surprised, "Wow, this is... unexpected..." Morrow grinned at him and said, "You're Morrow's pirates now! Speed courses in your veins!" King raised a brow, and spoke, "That... that doesn't make any sense..." "That is of minor importance. What is of major fucking importance is that we still have almost an hour before Bill arrives." A voice echoed from the forests on the island, "SO... IN AN HOUR, I'LL HAVE MY HANDS ON BOOTSTRAP TOO..." Morrow frowned, and turned his gaze towards the trees. King looked at Morrow, and spoke, "You know that voice..." Morrow replied, his eyes locked on the trees, "Yes. It's that stupid monkey." Only a few seconds later, the trees began to rumble and a gigantic monkey emerged from the trees, roaring. King's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "Y'know, when you said monkey, I did NOT expect this." Morrow remained silent and kept staring at the monkey, frowning menacingly. King calmed down and softly asked, "What shall we do now?" Morrow spoke without shifting his stare, "Kick his ass, but I want him alive." "Alive?" "That's... exactly what I said, yes." "...OK." King and Morrow dashed towards the monkey at full pelt. King had a head start, but Morrow quickly caught up and outpaced King. In response, the monkey began uprooting giant trees and tossing them at the brotherhood of the Morrow Gang. At this, King gave up the chase and leapt in the air to tear the huge trees asunder, mid-air, with his bare hands. The brotherhood of the gang cheered King on. Morrow, on the other hand, reached the enormous monkey and threw a barrage of extremely quick punches at his little toe. The bothered monkey kicked Morrow away. He then lifted a boulder larger than himself and tossed it at King. King smiled, and drew his sword. Tightly gripping the handle with both hands, King gave a mighty roar and swung at the approaching boulder. The sparkling blade cleanly slashed the boulder in half. Kamui and Kaguya then jumped towards each half and crushed them to harmless bits of debris. Meanwhile, Morrow recovered and threw another barrage of supersonic fists at the monkey's little toe, this time imbued with Haki power. The monkey growled and bent to grab Morrow, but the captain of the Morrow gang was too fast. King caught up to Morrow, and spoke, "Look, here's the thing. We've got you and me and four thousand men. We can easily beat this ape! Just say the three magic words!" Morrow looked at King, raised a brow, and spoke, "I love you'?''" "NO! '''Let's kill him!" Morrow sighed, "I have a question. Do you suck at capturing people alive, or do you just feel like throwing a tantrum today?" King shouted, "I really, really suck at capturing people alive! The Kingsmen suck at this stuff, too! We never do this stuff!" "Well, too bad, 'coz I want him alive, alive, alive... alive... alive... alive...." King spoke, "I have a question. Is this 'I want him alive' stuff going to be a regular thing, or do you just feel like throwing a tantrum today?" Morrow replied, "Just for today, just this once. I don't killing people, but don't worry, I won't stop you guys from killing people. However, this one guy... I want him to live." The brotherhood tried, in vain, to take down the monkey with their puny bullets. Meanwhile, Kamui and Kaguya caught up to Morrow and King. "Hey, Morrow," spoke Kamui, "You once said that you'll never lose on the Cleed Isle, didn't you?" Kaguya asked, "When did he say that?" Kamui replied, without shifting his stare from Morrow, "Twenty one years ago." "You remember that?" "Yes, I do." "And so do I," spoke Morrow. Kamui asked, "So what changes that, huh? A big fucking monkey?" King interjected, "Well, that should be plenty of reason." Morrow spoke, "Whatever advantage that the Cleed Isle gives me, it gives him, too." King, on the other hand, muttered to himself, "Huh, I'm being ignored... well, that's a new feeling." Morrow chuckled, and spoke to King, "Get used to it." King chuckled back. Morrow then spoke to Kamui once again, "This guy knows the Cleed Isle. This guy knows me." A confused Kaguya asked, "What do you mean?" while a wide-eyed Kamui gasped, "No!" Morrow nodded, "Yes." Kamui screamed, "NO!" Morrow shouted, "Screaming 'No!' will not change a yes to a no." Kaguya shouted, "Okay, one of you, start explaining right now!" Kamui said, "It's his brother! That monkey is Morrow's brother!" Kaguya was shocked, "What?! No way! His brother was not that big! And not that hairy!" King spoke, "Okay, now I understand why you want him alive, but tell us what we need to do right now." Morrow pointed to a mountain and spoke, "Okay. Kamui! Kaguya! Punch that mountain straight into the ground! Take as much time as you want to." Kamui looked at the mountain and said, "Huh. Okay." "But be careful," warned Morrow. Kamui narrowed his eyes and spoke, "What's that supposed to mean?" "You'll know," said Morrow. Kaguya sighed, "I have a very bad feeling about this." Kamui smiled to his sister and spoke, "I understood that reference." The Vega twins then rushed towards the mountain. The monkey noticed them and realised that they have a part to play in Morrow's plan, but decided to keep his attention to Morrow. King asked, "What do I'' do?" Morrow answered, "Oh, ''you? Uh, why don't you, um, make a bunch of holes and cracks and slashes into the ground?" "What?" "Yeah, make a ring of holes and cracks and slashes on the ground that surrounds my brother. Take as long as you want to." "This is going to be consequential to our plan, right?" "No shit!" "Okay." King ran towards the monkey, jumped up, and landed a powerful uppercut on his chin. The brotherhood hooted and cheered in support. As soon as King landed, the monkey threw down his huge fist at him. King used both of his arms to block the fist, but the ground underneath him cracked and collapsed into a big hole in which King was seemingly buried. Only a few seconds later, several metres metres away from the hole, King burst out of the ground, creating another hole. He whispered to himself, "Two down, many more to go." Meanwhile, Morrow dashed towards a huge oak tree, and the monkey knew exactly what it meant. It's the apple manoeuvre, the monkey thought, but then another thought struck him, No! He ain't dumb enough to think that I'd lose to the apple manoeuvre. It's the orange manoeuvre, but he'd have to initiate that at the banyan tree, not oak. What's he trying to do? I need to think it through. There are only three possibilities. Option A — he forgot that the orange manoeuvre initiates at the banyan tree. Option B — he's really trying to use the apple manoeuvre. Option C — he's doing something else entirely. THE APPLE MANOEUVRE — A simple hunting manoeuvre that involves an oak tree fitted with explosive of various classes. Due to the modified composition of the oak tree, the blast occurs with little to no damage to the tree itself. Thus, theoretically, this manoeuvre can be used endlessly, but even the most powerful of the tree's explosives could not possibly hope to inflict major damage to a big fucking ape. THE ORANGE MANOEUVRE — A slightly more complicated manoeuvre which takes advantage of the vines of the banyan tree. The vines, extending and attached to a huge underground network of cables, are capable of trapping and harming huge targets. To further increase the damage, the vines and cables are coated with a conductive liquid to allow an electric current to electrocute the prey. At the mountain Kamui and Kaguya were pounding their fists and elbows at the rocks of the mountain at tremendous speeds. At the battlefield The monkey noticed the mountain collapsing. He frowned. Out of a total of 26 manoeuvres, the apple and orange manoeuvres were two of 15 manoeuvres designed for individual setting, which means only one person was required to set up the manoeuvres. Nine manoeuvres required two people for setting, and two manoeuvres required three people for setting. It was a certainty that the twins's attack at the mountain and Morrow's actions were not the part of the same plan. Since the apple manoeuvre had no chance of defeating him, the monkey was convinced that Morrow's actions were just distractions; he was convinced that Morrow's true plan relied on the twins's actions. Meanwhile, King was very much busy, dragging his sword along the ground to create a ring of wreck around the monkey, who paid no attention to the swordsman. He instead paid close attention to Morrow. Unexpectedly, a flash seemed to pierce his eyes. He narrowed his eyes and immediately noticed metallic wire strings hanging from the oak tree. It's the orange manoeuvre after all! It's the secret Option D — he's bizarrely trying an orange manoeuvre from the oak tree! How could he possibly be that stupid?! And that irregularity in movement... he's panicking! He hoped that I won't notice the strings, but I did, and he knows it. To stop his brother, the monkey picked up and tossed a huge boulder at him, but it was split mid-air by King's sword. King shouted, "As per my captain's very specific command, I won't kill you. But I will take your arms and legs!" "NO!" screamed Morrow, halting his plans. "OKAY, JUST HIS HANDS?" "NO!" "FINGERS?" "YEAH, OKAY." The dumbfounded monkey screamed, "Wait, WHAT?!" King jumped high and swung his sword at the monkey's fingers. The monkey evaded the swing very narrowly. He thought, This is bad! He'll really cut off my fingers! King shouted, "I've been given very precise targets, and I'll nab them!" The monkey took one last look at his brother before focusing his attention on King. He noticed a misstep in his movements, something different from the previously noticed irregularity. He realised that Morrow has decided to change his plan at random. At the mountain Kaguya and Kamui were still pounding their fists and elbows at the rocks of the mountain at tremendous speeds. Suddenly, Kamui heard something from within the rocks. He asked his sister, "Do you hear that?" She replied, "I feel that!" "What?!" "The rock... it's hot!" Kamui gasped, "Oh, that son of a bitch!" At the battlefield The monkey was aware that he had the advantage. He had already cracked Morrow's plan, and the twins, clearly intended to be distractions, were uselessly pounding on a mountain. Now, Morrow was all by himself, with no plan. Morrow, however, continued setting up the apple manoeuvre, much to the monkey's surprise. Soon, monstrous smile appeared on his face. Oh, wonderful! So he has come up with an advanced version of the apple manoeuvre! Impressive. I'd give it an A for ingenuity, but it ain't gonna beat me. The monkey's confidence collapsed immediately as he saw Morrow remove his jacket, roll it up and throw it towards the tree. The jacket suddenly disappeared near the tree. The monkey could not see Morrow's face (because the latter's back was facing the former). The monkey could not hear Morrow's voice (because Morrow didn't say anything). However, by just looking the back of a silent Morrow's head, the monkey knew exactly what he was thinking. "I did it! It worked!" That's what you're thinking. Aren't you, Morrow?! The monkey couldn't believe his eyes. The sheer volume of shock that struck him most unexpectedly was enough to freeze him dead in his tracks. He then roared. Loud. Even he wasn't sure if it was his shock, or his rage, or his fear that initiated the roar. What he was sure of was that what he was witnessing should not logically be possible. Perhaps it was indeed the lack of logic that initiated his roar, for even the thought of witnessing the tomato manoeuvre in action was maddening. Then, Morrow stood firm, clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and growled. The monkey attacked Morrow again, but was intercepted by King, who then ran to Morrow and asked him, "Hey, whatcha doin'?" "I'm concentrating my willpower," replied Morrow, "I'm concentrating my Haki." "I think you owe me an explanation as to what's going on." "When I was a kid, I used to hunt with my father. We had several manoeuvres of hunting. A total of 26 manoeuvres, each with a name, like the apple manoeuvre, the banana manoeuvre, the orange manoeuvre, and so on." "So, do these names have any logic or significance?" "Oh, heck no. Dad came up with these on a fly. As I was saying, my brother knows all of the manoeuvres, and until now, I was trying to confuse him into thinking that I'm either going for an improved apple manoeuvre or an improvised orange manoeuvre." "But you're actually going for neither?" "All those years ago, I pitched a crazy idea for a tomato manoeuvre. My father liked my creative thinking, but deemed it impossible. He thought that the tomato manoeuvre cannot be done. My brother still thinks that it's impossible." King smiled wide, "But you cracked it, didn't you?" Morrow smiled back. The one who wasn't smiling, though, was Morrow's brother. He was still roaring but his roars were now coherent enough to be understood. "DON'T BE SO SURE OF THIS MANOEUVRE OF YOURS, MORROW!! THERE'S NOT A CHANCE FOR YOUR TOMATO MANOEUVRE TO WORK!! NOT A CHANCE IN HELL!!" "Man, he's pissed," said King, giggling. "Hmph! I know right," said Morrow. King then asked, "So, why did you send Kamui to break that mountain? Why did you tell me to make a ring-shaped wreck on the ground? What's our role in this?" Morrow replied, "Oh, you guys? Well, let's just say that you guys are the helpers." "Is that just a fancy word for 'useless people used for useless chores'?" Suddenly, a huge spear-like staff of bamboo dropped from the clouds, towards the monkey. The monkey was dumbstruck. He yelled, "THE MANGO MANOEUVRE?! WHEN?! HOW?!" King frowned, "Did he just say 'the mango manoeuvre'?" Morrow said, "Father was right. Indeed, the tomato manoeuvre is impossible." King stared at Morrow. You used the twins and me as diversions, and tried to confuse your brother between the apple and orange manoeuvres, and somehow ended up tricking him into believing that you planned a tomato manoeuvre, while you actually planned a mango manoeuvre? You crafty motherfucker! The monkey jumped and shrunk to his human form mid-air, narrowly avoiding the spear, which landed with great force near the mountain. Morrow quickly dashed to the centre of the ring-shaped wreck created by King. It was the exact spot where the brother was going to land. The brother thought, He knows I can't flee while I'm mid-air. He's waiting for me to land so that he can clobber me up! No matter, I'll just transform again! However, Morrow concentrated his Haki power to strengthen the ground he was standing on. His brother was confused, but lunged at Morrow to attack him as soon as he landed. Suddenly, the ground quaked, and the circle in which Morrow and his brother were standing (separated from the rest of the island due to the ring-shaped wreck created by King) was instantly shot up into the air by an abrupt magma eruption. "WHAAAAAT?!?!" screamed the brother. King looked at the very unexpected turn of events with a look of extreme shock on his face. Every single person on the Cleed Isle was bewildered, except Morrow. The most wildly bewildered person was his brother. He demanded answers, "HOW?! HOW THE FUCK DID YOU DO THIS?!" Morrow replied, "You remember Kagura and Kamui? The mountain they crushed wasn't just a mountain. It was a volcano... volcano... volcano!" "What?! You sent them to the Enbika?" "Yes, and you saw them, didn't you? You saw them heading towards a mountain, but you didn't know which one. You didn't know they were heading towards the Enbika." "Well, ain't ya fucking clever! I lost track of them because I was too busy focusing on you." Morrow smirked, "Anywho, while I was distracting you, they collapsed the rocks on the lava, pushing it into the ground." His brother's face contorted with anger. He said, "And this piece of rock, which King hacked off from the rest of the isle, was..." "... the perfect cap for the eruption to burst through, yes." The brother got angrier, and shouted, "You son of a bitch!" Morrow frowned fiercely and spoke, "Did you just call our mother a bitch?" "Damn it, I can't even spit curses at you!" "You know, you should thank me. If I had not told King to spare you, you would've been beheaded by now. If I had not strengthened this rock with my Haki, you would've been smoke by now." "I haven't lost, Morrow! I'll escape while I still can!" And so, he commenced his transformation into his monkey form. "Oh, no, you don't!" And so, Morrow threw a bunch of punches into his brother's face, thus interrupting his transformation and stunning him. Morrow then jumped off from the rock, and screamed, "KAMUI!" "DAMN IT, MORROW! HOW MANY TIMES DO YOU EXPECT ME TO CATCH YOUR ASS FALLING FROM THE SKY?!" screamed Kamui, who was with Kaguya, running away from the volcano they just collapsed. Kamui ran and jumped towards King, who threw Kamui in the sky, towards Morrow's direction. Meanwhile, Morrow was enjoying the fall, laughing and screaming. "WRRRYYYYY!" "GOOD GRIEF," screamed Kamui as he caught Morrow mid-air. Together, they fell into the sea. In just a few minutes, they swam towards the beach of the Cleed Isle, where they were reunited with the brotherhood. Both of them were panting heavily. Kamui collapsed immediately after he reached the shore. Morrow, who was struggling to stand, cried out loud, "Oh, c'mon, stand up, Kamui." Kaguya said, "Oh, cut him some slack. Let's see if you can stand up on your feet after crushing a mountain almost single-handedly and then rushing to save a buddy falling from a rock launched in the sky by a volcano-like eruption. Boy, that's a sentence I never thought I'd ever say." "Single-handedly? I thought you helped him out." "That's why I said almost." King asked, "Can someone please tell me what just happened?" Morrow explained, "Not much. Kamui and Kagura impl—" Kaguya interrupted, "Damn it, Morrow! It's not Kagura, it's Kaguya!" "Yeah, whatever. Anywho, they imploded the volcano and caused an eruption that blasted my brother into the sky." King asked, "Is... is he gonna be alright?" "Eh, he'll be fine. Y'know, unless he ends up falling into water, in which case, he'll die. So, let's just hope he doesn't end up falling into water." "Well, that volcano trick, though... that's one hell of a manoeuvre!" "Oh, yeah, it is! I think I should name it! How about watermelon manoeuvre for a name? It'll be a great 27th manoeuvre." Just a couple of seconds later, as if on cue, a huge ship emerged from the water. Standing on the top of the mast was Bootstrap Bill, laughing and screaming at the top of his voice. "YEF!! I MADE IT!! I MADE IT ON TIME!! Y'KNOW, I DID A LOT OF HARD WORK THIF WEEK, BUT THE LAFT TWENTY-FOUR HOURF WERE MURDER! I REALLY HAD TO WORK MY AFF OFF IN THIF LAFT HOUR! I ALMOFT THOUGHT I WON'T MAKE IT IN TIME, BUT I DID!! YUP!!" He then saw the tired expressions of King and the brotherhood, and quickly noticed an exhausted Kaguya, a collapsed Kamui and a heavily panting Morrow. After several seconds of unbroken silence, Bill finally asked, "Okay, what'd I miff?" Morrow began laughing. Soon, King began laughing too, while Kaguya, completely befuddled, simply sighed and sat down. Morrow, laughing madly, stumbled, but was caught by King, who was also laughing madly. Morrow clung to King, and the two continued laughing louder and louder, while a very confused Bill just kept looking at them. Brothers Minomonkey 17 hours after the battle at the Cleed Isle, a huge rock dropped into the water near the coast of a huge city. The people near the coast could see a giant monkey jumping from the rock just a moment before it fell into the water. The monkey fell upon a wide marketplace, but when the dust cleared, there was no monkey. Only a middle-aged man walked out of the rubble. Morrow "So, Django told me that you vanished your jacket," said Kamui to Morrow. Morrow replied, "I didn't vanish it. I made it disappear. It was just an illusion. A trick, a trick, a trick! Anyone can do it with some practice." The Morrow Gang was sailing in the huge ship, which ultimately did not out to be huge enough for four thousand men, who ignored the lack of space by drinking and chatting merrily. Morrow, Kaguya, Kamui and King were standing near the helm of the ship. Kamui asked, "I also heard that you dropped a huge spear from the sky?" Kaguya replied, "Yeah, I saw that, from far away. I can't believe you missed it." Morrow spoke, "Oh, the tomato manoeuvre? Yeah, that happened." Kamui asked, "Your brother didn't notice you setting that up?" "No. I'm fast. I quickly set that up when he was busy with King." "Oh, thank God, 'coz I almost thought you shot that spear into the sky twenty two years ago as a part of a super crazy plan and it somehow dropped precisely when you wanted it to." King laughed, "Woah, that's hilarious! What gave you the impression that he'd do such a thing?" Kamui, quickly changing the subject, said, "Well, imploding a volcano and catching Morrow from the sky has surely made me very hungry!" "You're in luck," said Kaguya, "Bootstrap told me that he's prepared a 'feaft'. I think he meant 'feast'." "For four thousand men?" "Nope, just for the prime crew." Saying so, Kaguya and Kamui walked away. Once Morrow and King were out of earshot, Kamui asked, "There's no feast, is it?" "Oh, yes, there is," replied Kaguya. "Oh, really? Wow! A surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one." After a couple of seconds, Kamui said, "At this point, you're supposed to say, 'I understood that reference.'" Kaguya said, "I didn't understand the reference, though. I didn't even know you made a reference!" On the other hand, Morrow and King were still at the helm, looking at the horizon. "So, I suppose it's been a while since you've met your brother," said King. Morrow replied, "Just a little while. Not really long. The last time I saw him was over a week ago." "Over a week ago? Weren't you in a prison over a week ago?" "Yes, and he was there too." "Fellow cellmate?" "No. Jailor." King looked at Morrow, now listening with full attention. Morrow spoke, "Eleven years ago, Father asked my brother to take a job as a jailor at Impel Down. My brother left a perfectly good, well-paid job to obey Father's wish. I know that Father wanted someone from the family to look after me, but I also like to believe that my brother agreed to do so because he loved me." King asked, "He never helped you to, y'know, escape?" "Never. He's a dutiful son and a dutiful brother but he also has a duty towards his job." King gazed towards the horizon and said, "Two brothers on the opposite sides of the law. What a cruel stroke of fate!" "I do not believe in fate," said Morrow, sternly, "It's all about what we make. My brother and I ended up on the opposite sides of the law because of my crimes, and here I am! Venturing into piracy! Hmph! Years ago, I thought I should spend the rest of my life atoning, but now, I've chosen a pirate's life." "You think you're gonna end up regretting your decision?" "I think I won't. Shit, I hope I won't." With smiles on their faces, Morrow and King looked towards the horizon, and so, the Morrow Gang embarked their voyage.